


Love Grows (Where My Luna Goes)

by Ladderofyears



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Abusing Flitweed, Awful Pets, Break Up (Not Ginny and Luna), Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Girls Kissing, HP Battleships 2019, References to Depression, Roommates, University
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-11
Updated: 2019-07-11
Packaged: 2020-06-26 15:48:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19771417
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladderofyears/pseuds/Ladderofyears
Summary: When Ginny Weasley was a late applicant to University she was paired with only girl left who didn't have a roommate: Luna Lovegood. Unfortunately, Luna had awful pets and the pair of them seem destined never to hit it off at all.Until they did.And then Ginny decided to develop a rather terrible crush.





	Love Grows (Where My Luna Goes)

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic written to fill a prompt for HP Battleships 2019; 
> 
> "That's not my shirt" and roommate to lovers.
> 
> The story title comes from the 1970 song _Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)_ by Edison Lighthouse.

_Room-mates. Casual acquaintances. University colleagues. Hogwarts alumni._

That’s all they were. All they’d ever be. Whatever relationship Ginny and Luna had, it certainly couldn’t be called _friendship_. 

And it wasn’t as if they had any interests in common. Ginny loved Quidditch, loved strumming her guitar and drinking Firewhiskey until her brothers were passed out under the table. Ginny loved painting bright canvasses, thick lines of colour that that riled and exasperated the viewer. Luna loved animals, be they magic or muggle, loved geodes and loved mediation. Luna loved walking barefoot in the forest, and ancient textbooks with unpronounceable titles. 

Ginny was loud and hers was a voice trained to be heard amongst brothers, and cousins and family. Luna was quiet and still, an only child more used to friends that lived in the realm of her imagination than those that were tethered to the earth. 

~@~

It all started on their first day living in such close quarters. 

Ginny was a late application to Le Fey Magical College, Cambridge, studying Sports Sorcery and Healing Enchantments. She’d not been sure that her NEWT scores would make the grade, or that she truly wanted to leave the Burrow. She’d not been sure she could face this first step to a future that was all her own, one without Fred to tell her to sod off, _please_ , and only bring your washing back in the holidays. 

Late applicants didn’t get a choice with whom they were paired with and were allocated any spare bedroom. Ginny would have to take whomever she could get. 

“We’ve got the one perfect space left,” the Witch in the accommodation office had said. “Another Undergraduate. She’s straight out of Hogwarts too, studying the Biology of Magical Creatures. Obviously, privacy rules mean I can’t give you her name, but I’m quite sure you’ll get along royally.”

And Ginny hadn’t loved this idea at all. 

Hadn’t wanted to move into a new _place_ , with a new _person_. She hadn’t wanted to leave her mum and dad behind, alone for the first time in their married lives. Ginny’s moving day had coincided with the end of one of the worst bouts of depression she’d had since Fred died, and she felt truly tired. She didn’t even have the energy to ride her broom, and actually getting up and playing Quidditch had felt next to impossible. When Ginny was in the midst of depression, every irritation felt like a personal slight, and every inconvenience felt like a disaster. 

So when she’d moved in, and discovered an ugly orange Kneazle sleeping on her bloody _shirt_ , found a species of butterfly hovering above her bed and a spider the size of a dinner plate sat on the pillow and Ginny had been simply furious. 

Ginny had been so livid that when bloody Loony Lovegood offered a ridiculous, silver-ringed hand to shake, and a ridiculous shiny smile on her face, all she could possibly do was shake her head, and contemptuously snap out a mean-spirited reply. 

“Honestly, you going to be this careless for the rest of the bloody year? I could have stayed home if I wanted to live among other people’s mess. Learn some respect.”

Of course, Lovegood had apologised profusely. 

She’d said that the butterflies had escaped, and she’d released the spider to round them up, because Anansi was house-trained. Luna had explained that Knotty the Kneazle was old. That he didn’t really have any boundaries. She’d spoken in a mild, worried voice, keen to make amends for this initial bad impression. 

But Ginny hadn’t been in the mood to hear her out. 

She’d turned away, deigning not even to make a reply. She had spelled a barrier to hang between them so no animals could even attempt cross their room again. Then, Ginny had cast a silencing spell, and lain on her bed, pointedly ignoring Luna for the entire rest of the day. 

It was a disaster of a beginning, and it was destined only to get worse. 

~@~

 _And that_ , thought Ginny, _was how it was bound to be forever_. 

It was the start of November, and the pair of them had been room-mates for just a little over two months. Two months where uneasy silence had replaced conversation, and avoiding eye contact had become a horrible norm. 

It was an unhappy coexistence that suited neither of them. Ginny knew she could be terribly stubborn, and she’d rejected Luna’s every attempt at reconciliation. She hadn’t wanted Luna’s bizarre Rosehip and Narcissi- infused tea, and she’d refused her strange offer to de-Sprite her bedclothes. 

Of course, inside Ginny _had_ wanted to make up with Luna. 

However, life at Le Fey College seemed to have other plans and whenever Ginny came home with flowers, or catnip for Knotty, Luna had been absent. Really, Ginny was a good person having a few bad days. She was missing her home, and her mum, and the slab of honey and ginger cake Molly always gave her before bed. 

It seemed like it had been fated for them never to become friends. One day of uneasy silence turned into a week, and before Ginny knew it, a week had turned into the rest of the month. Ginny felt terribly guilty. Her pridefulness meant that she just couldn’t let things go, meant that she could just couldn’t give up her annoyances. 

And what was most annoying? Ginny could tell that Luna really _was_ a good person. 

Well, obviously Luna wasn’t completely perfect. She talked to her menagerie of animals in a strange, made-up language that she claimed they understood. She woke Ginny up before the sun had risen properly to dance away their nightmares. Luna brought girls back to their room without any prior notice, except perhaps a hurried patronus asking Ginny to find somewhere else to sleep for the night. That was rather annoying. 

Luna let her friends smoke Flitweed in their room, and Ginny thought she’d _definitely_ been fibbing about those animals escaping on that first day. Only yesterday Ginny had found Anansi curled up in her wash-bag and she’d nearly _Arania Exumai’d_ that eight-legged monster. Butterflies, bugs and spiders seemed to follow Luna everywhere she went, and _Merlin_ if that wasn’t irritating. 

Yet Ginny simply couldn’t help herself. Even with all these annoyances, her eyes were drawn to Luna. 

She’d watched Luna with the friends that seemed to gravitate towards her floaty, easy-going personality. Ginny had secretly lifted her eyes from her Sports Magic textbook and watched while Luna gave her friend Eloise sound, thoughtful advice. 

Ginny had covertly listened when Luna told hilariously cheeky stories about her fellow Ravenclaws, and had even been secretly impressed when Luna casually made a comment explaining how the Egyptian pyramid curses had operated. 

The other girl was emotionally intelligent, funny and smart. Really, when Ginny thought about it rationally, she felt a little embarrassed at her petty behaviour, but there was something about Luna that caught in her claw, and somehow Ginny just couldn't seem to stop herself looking at her. 

And the biggest aggravation was, of course, that Luna was _beautiful_. 

Stunningly, spectacularly beautiful. Just exactly Ginny’s type, and if they weren't room-mates then she’d definitely have asked her out on a date before now. Luna’s hair flowed down her back in a silken cascade, and Ginny thought she must have charmed it because it never knotted, or tangled. Luna’s eyes were the blue of a spring morning and her face had the lightest sprinkle of freckles. Her nose wrinkled just slightly when she laughed, and she did often, whenever her friends and her animals were beside her. 

To tell the truth, Luna was Ginny’s missed opportunity. 

Luna was Ginny’s missed opportunity for laughter, for friendship and the easy camaraderie she used to share with her brothers before she became ill. Her missed opportunity to have something, someone more, because Merlin, Ginny didn’t think there had ever been another person who could infuriate and obsess Ginny in such equal measure. 

_But she’d have to manage_ , Ginny thought sadly. _She’d have to get by, and only think about what could have been in passing. Her bloody illness had already ruined everything_. 

~@~

And then, after three months of this awful cold war, something changed. Luna got herself a girlfriend. 

Her name was Clementine, and she was French, an ex-Beauxbatons student. Precise, perfect and well put together in a way that Ginny found nearly impossible. Whenever Clemmie was there, Ginny found she couldn’t hold her acid tongue, found that rude, ill-bred comments slipped out unbidden. Even Luna, who was usually kindness herself, retaliated in kind.

Their shared room, which used to be generally quiet became an even bigger battleground than anything Harry Potter could possibly have vanquished. 

And, for a month, ever comment either Luna and Ginny made was barbed and belittling. 

Ginny would say something about the vast amount of Knotty’s fur coating every surface ( _“What’s wrong with the bloody beast? I’m not looking for a bloody Kneazle fur-coat”_ ) and then Luna would counter it with some nasty snark of her own ( _“I’d ask you to mediate with me, Gins, but you’ve made it clear that you judge spirituality as having the same value as your bathmat”_.) 

Ginny had followed that with a comment asking whether Luna thought that jewellery made of beetle shells, and toadstool tops was really appropriate. 

After that, Luna had informed Ginny her aura was mud-brown. 

Plain and simple: this was war. 

~@~

The night that Ginny and Luna called their ceasefire occurred just before Christmas, and it began with their typical, caustic sarcasm. 

Luna was dressed up (looking _glorious_ , thought Ginny in her head, but she certainly wasn’t about to say that aloud) and ready to accompany Clementine to the Le Fey Christmas Ball. 

“I’m going out now,” Luna had announced, closing her copy of _Fantastic Beasts_ , and looking at Ginny (who’d not actually gotten dressed that day, and was proudly wearing her pyjamas). “We’re going to the dance. So I don’t know what time I’ll be back. If you could feed Anansi and Knotty...”

“ _Ugggh_ ,” Ginny had replied, rolling her eyes. “Firstly, I don’t care what you and _Clem_ are doing. Secondly, I didn’t sign up to look after your bloody pets. Knotty is a walking hairball, and Anansi is the foulest creature imaginable. I saw him eat a bloody mouse the other day!… So no, Luna. If you want your precious babies fed, leave lovergirl behind and come back here.”

Luna had narrowed her eyes then, visibly hurt at the criticism of her beloved animals. “Oh, I will. I just thought you might have a bit of common kindness that's all! But it seems that even that’s too much for you.”

“I have plenty of kindness,” Ginny replied, rolling lazily back onto her bed, “but I carefully reserve it for people who deserve it. Not some loony new-age wix who surrounds herself with a menagerie of the grossest creatures ever to walk the earth.”

“Whatever, Weasley,” Luna opened the door, and walked thought in a huff. “Make sure you don’t stay up too late. Marinating in all your venom will only eat away at your inner core.”

“Piss off,” Ginny said easily. “Maybe it’s you that should think about not staying out too late. You need your beauty sleep. You’ll need your looks to last as long as possible if you’re actually serious about being a professional cat lady for a career.”

The door had slammed shut at that and Ginny had felt the momentary glee of having had the last word. After that though, she’d just felt a bit hollow and sad. If she’d petted Knotty and given him a few of his favourite biscuits, well that was nobody else's secret but their own. 

~@~

And surprisingly enough Luna _had_ returned quickly. Luna was back in less than an hour, and she slammed the door far harder on her way in than she did when she left. 

Her eyes were glazed, red-rimmed and sore, and she was _trembling_. She sat down heavily on the side of her bed and abruptly cast a silencing spell that cut off all the sound from her side of the room. This in itself was unusual enough to attract Ginny’s attention and working on pure instinct, she stalked over, slashing away the muting enchantment with her wand. 

“What’s happened?” Ginny asked, scooping up an armful of Knotty and dropping herself onto the bed beside Luna. 

Truthfully, Ginny was pretty sure already what had happened. After all, she’d had enough break-ups of her own to know what they looked like ( _Merlin_ , she thought. All those different boys she’d dated in school. All of them such _sweethearts_ , but in retrospect all of them just _wrong, wrong, wrong_.)

“Was it Clementine? She was far too fancy for her own good… You’re better off, L.” The words flew out of Ginny’s mouth without any thought or care that they were supposed enemies. Ginny absolutely shouldn’t care what had happened to the other girl, but break-ups, she knew, were always repellent. 

Whatever had occurred, Ginny couldn’t stand to see Luna hurt like this. 

“What do you care?” Luna sobbed, turning away to face the wall. “You bloody _hated_ Clem. You told me she was a posho that put Malfoy to shame in the snob-stakes. Those were your actual, genuine words!” And yes, Ginny realised, she had indeed been quite disparaging about Clementine over the previous few weeks.

In fact, Ginny realised in some shock, she must actually be a pretty despicable person. Obviously, she must have disliked Clem much more than she’d imagined, because inside her head, she was absolutely _rejoicing_ about this break-up. 

Indeed, Ginny would have done a little happy dance with Anansi spider if that hadn't been just grotesquely inappropriate. Guiltily, she thought that there must be a better way to offer comfort, and her mind flicked back to the extra large bar of Honeydukes chocolate sat waiting at the top of her wardrobe. It had been charmed to resemble a muggle novel, and Ginny had been putting off eating it until she was really homesick.

Tonight however Luna Lovegood was in far more dire need of the chocolate than she was, so Ginny duly made her sacrifice. She stood, ran over to the wardrobe to retrieve her treasure and revealed the silver wrapping for the both of them to see. She thrust it unceremoniously in Luna’s direction. 

“Here,” Ginny said, a little gruffly, a little embarrassed. “Eat up. It’s a 100% Weasley guarantee. Chocolate makes everything better. You’ll have a smile after you eat that” 

“Why are you giving me this?” Luna asked in a stuttering voice. “I mean, why do you even _care_? It’s not as if we’re friends.” Luna’s voice was quiet, like her inner goodness has been cursed to ashes. That wasn’t even _slightly_ acceptable to Ginny, and so she shook her head vigorously, wanting nothing more than to put Luna right. 

“Look… I know that I can be standoffish, and arsy. You wouldn’t get it… I had so many brothers. I had to fight for everything growing up. If you weren't on the defensive straight away, you just got trampled on.” 

That sounded awkward and excuse-y even to Ginny’s own ears, so she tried again. “I know we made a bad start but I don’t want you to actually be _sad_. Swear to Merlin, I'm not a complete monster. I know how you feel… I’ve had a few horrible break-ups, myself, L. Even finished with the bloody _Chosen One_ , so I do know how bad you’re feeling.”

That, at least, netted Ginny a laugh from Luna, so she considered that an absolute win. 

Ginny left Luna alone after that, watching her only out of the corner of her eye. Luna’s gloomy expression lightened with every bite of the chocolate, and her sobs slowly decreased. Soon, all that remained were a few small, occasional sniffs, and Ginny was pleased to see Luna using the scruffy Kneazle for a pillow. That bloody creature was finally making himself useful. 

~@~

As the evening wore on, Ginny found herself faced with another problem. 

Luna, even though she wasn’t actively upset any more, was still very silent. Ginny found herself quite unable to abide this silence even one little bit, though she’d have sworn to Merlin that panpipes, meditative chanting, and the strumming of L’s harp was more annoying by far than the sound of half a dozen snoring brothers. 

She needed to decide what she was actual going to do about Luna’s upset. Ginny thought about using the Ron-treatment on Luna, just telling her to _buck up, and move on_ , but instinctively she knew that wasn’t going to work. 

Instead, Ginny decided on the go-to Weasley cure for heartbreak. _Ogden’s Old Firewhiskey_. It turned out however, that actually being nice to Luna took slightly more guts than Ginny had initially thought. Giving the other girl the chocolate had been an impulse; a bit of a rash decision. Ginny stamped her worries down to the soles of her feet and swallowed her nervousness about being rejected out of hand. 

This, she knew, was the difference between being doing a nice thing, and being a nice person. Ginny would much, much rather be the latter. 

She _Engorgio’d_ the bottle she had hidden under her bed and got two glasses from their bathroom. 

“Lulu,” Ginny asked, awkwardly trying out the nickname that L’s friends used for her, “would you like a glass of Firewhiskey? It’s supposed to make you brave? Toasted in Dragonfire, which I think is just the advertisers fibbing, but...” Ginny trailed off, aware that she was rambling, and that she was possibly embarrassing herself. She paused, coughed, and tried once more. 

“Luna. Would you like to share? I know from past experience that it might not cure your problems, but it might well make you feel a bit more mellow.” Ginny hazarded a small peek in Luna’s direction. The other girl looked more confused than anything else, but that was okay. Definitely better than sad, anyway. 

“Suppose I could,” Luna replied. “Not too much though. Dad says that alcohol makes your aura far less visible, and I don’t want to attract a nest of _Flaming Peachsqueeks_. I’ve only just got rid of the last bunch.”

Ginny had no idea what a Peachsqueek was and honestly, didn’t care to ask. If Luna was worrying about the visibility of her aura and about her father’s Quibbler creatures then at least she wasn’t thinking about a certain Clementine. They sat together on Luna’s bed and even the many-eyed evil glare of Anansi and Knotty’s numerous hairballs were not enough to put Ginny off. The silence felt companionable and the smoulder of the alcohol scorched their throats and slowly loosened their inhibitions. 

After only two glasses, Ginny felt confident enough to speak candidly. 

“I’m sorry… I know I've been an arse this year. I had a lot going on just before I arrived at college, and I think you just took the brunt when I arrived. I’m too stubborn. Not very good at backing down. I tried so hard to dislike you but I just couldn’t… Not really. And I don’t even understand why I kept it going as long as I did.”

Luna didn’t reply, and simply gave Ginny that enigmatic smile that made her stomach flip and her pulse quicken. _It must be the alcohol_ , Ginny chided herself. Don’t get yourself caught in a crush just because you’ve started talking. 

_Don’t get yourself caught in a crush just because you’ve become friends_. 

~@~

The next day Ginny returned from her lectures to find Luna sat silently in her bed. 

The blond girl was still wearing her pyjamas which by itself was startlingly unusual. She was reading a large vellum book, a romance if the title was anything to go by. Luna was frowning slightly at the text, her eyebrows knitted together and her lips were drooping at the edges. 

Luna looked a little sad, so Ginny sat down next to her. 

“ _The Many Loves and Tribulations of Petronilla de Meath_? A romance, the day after a break-up?” Ginny poked her thumb at the title. “Not sure this was the greatest plan, L. You need to be out, up on your broom. Having a laugh.”

“I’m allowed to be sad,” Luna countered, closing her book and throwing it aside. “Clementine left me for Philippa yesterday. She’s an Animagus, not to mention an absolute Wizz at Transfiguration. I feel like such a troll in comparison.”

“Nonsense,” Ginny disagreed, smiling widely. “Trolls have far better taste in pets, and don’t actually believe that the world is flat and carried on the back of gigantic tortoise. Let’s get out of here, and get a coffee.”

Luna laughed, a deep trilling sounds that filled Ginny’s heart with pleasure. “ _Akupara_. And yes, I think that’s just as realistic as lots of other theories… I can’t believe you knew that about me.” Luna got changed as she spoke, quickly pulling on her jeans and a jumper adorned with stars of every colour imaginable. She _Accio’d_ her shiny Converse trainers and ran a quick brush through her hair. 

“Luna, we do live together. You think I don’t know about some of your more… Well, lets call them _idiosyncratic_ ideas?” Ginny questioned earnestly. 

“I honestly didn’t think I was that far up on the your radar to be worth paying any attention too. I’m honoured actually. Really I am.” Ginny and Luna walked to the coffee shop on campus, and it suddenly felt a little ridiculous, really, that they’d never done this before. Ginny felt her cheeks redden in embarrassment at the fact. Still, they were there together now and that was better than anything. 

As they sat together, with her latte looking terribly conservative and boring in comparison to Luna’s cloudberry and banana whip milkshake, Ginny imagined that Luna must be thinking about the last few months, in much the same way she was. 

They’d only made friends previous night and they still hadn’t discussed anything. Not about the awkwardness, or the stony silences. They hadn’t talked about the barbed comments or the way the whole mess between them had started. “ _Luna_ ,” Ginny began, sitting up straight in her chair, “can we please have a fresh start? Like, a formal fresh start? An official new beginning?” 

She smiled, a little unsure of what to say next. “I acted like a prize prat. And I’m sorry.”

“Forgiveness is the greatest gift of our universe,” Luna agreed, a little mysteriously. “Everyday we are gifted with a new sunrise, and a new chance to start again. Ginny Weasley, I accept your fresh start, and I’m honoured and pleased to count you amongst my friends.” 

The two of them shook hands, giggling like schoolgirls, and while Ginny wasn’t too sure what Luna was talking about with the sunrise, she was more than pleased they were officially friends. 

Ginny and Luna looked at each other, pretending that they’d never ever met before and for a moment Ginny felt light as a feather and nearly as high as a broomstick. The weight of a thousand dragons had been lifted off her chest and she even thought she’d be up for feeding Anansi. 

“I wish we’d done this before,” Ginny admitted, a little sheepishly. “Weasleys have many good traits, but backing down? Perhaps I do still need to work on that...”

“I’m sorry about that first week too,” Luna replied, taking a sip of her milkshake. “I know that my animals can be a little much. I tend to think other people love them as much a I do. Comes of being an only child.”

“I don’t mind them really,” Ginny said, fiddling with the strap of her bag. “It’s just- Well, I was going through some stuff in those first few weeks. I wasn’t myself… It’s periodic. I do well and I get better. And then sometimes I get poorly again.”

“Well, I’m sorry then.” Luna placed a hand over Ginny’s own, and knotted their fingers together. It felt right, and it felt comfortable, and even thought they’d only been _official_ friends for a minute it didn’t feel forced or contrived. “Maybe I should have been better at comforting you Gin. Cheering you up. Just like you’ve done for me today. I’m supposed to be kind.” 

“All the kindness in the world wouldn’t have helped me L,” Ginny said quietly. “I’ve had depression, on and off since my early teens, but I've had good support with it. The wizarding world… Well, its a million miles behind the muggles with its reliance on potions to cure everything. I’ve had some wonderful counselling and I have strategies to follow when start to feel like I'm getting poorly again. Am I putting you off? I am, aren't I?”

“No. _No_. Not at all,” Luna’s eyes were wide, and she squeezed Ginny’s fingers. “My dad always struggled after my mum died. He’s still the same person he always was, but sometimes he finds it really difficult to get out of bed, or do some of the things he’d normally find easy. Those are the times I need to support him a little bit more. But that’s what you do for people you love.” 

Luna was silent for a moment, thinking before she continued. “But tell me, you know? If I say something stupid? The last thing I want to be is an insensitive bloody hippogriff who barges in and says the wrong thing… Honestly, Gin, the oddest things seem to fly out of my mouth at the most inopportune times.”

“You don’t bloody say,” Ginny laughed, happy to be able to finally lighten the atmosphere. “What was it that you said the other day? The moons of Venus are making the Hungarian Horntail population more _randy_?”

“They _are_ ,” Luna said, pulling a mock-offended face. “It’s a well-known fact. Clementine didn’t believe me either.”

Ginny snorted. “Well, if Clem didn’t believe you, then it must be the truth. If that girl could dump you for a Transfiguring Animagus then she clearly doesn’t know which way is up.” She finished her latte and slammed down the mug in emphasis, which clearly amused Luna. 

“For a person you barely know, you surely don’t have a very good impression of Clementine,” giggled Luna, raising her eyebrows and leaning back in her chair. “She has a lot of good points. She didn’t criticise my animals like _some_ other people we could mention.” 

“Ah yes, but she didn’t have to wake to Anansi’s six foot web blocking out the sun.” Ginny grinned, warming up to her subject. “No, I have plenty of ammunition to criticise Clementine with. That girl wasn’t anywhere near good enough for you.”

“You’ll have to give me some examples,” Luna said, charming the sugar cubes to climb into an unfeasibly high tower. “My ego requires some massaging today.”

This Ginny could do, easily. Clementine was her least favourite person on the planet. “Her constant ‘ _at Beauxbatons_ ’! There’s not a person at this university who didn’t study magic! And her laugh… She sounded like the donkey that lives in the next field across from the Burrow.” 

Ginny paused. “How am I doing?”

“Superb,” Luna agreed. “Carry on.”

“And her voice. Far too loud. You deserve better, L. You really do.”

~@~

And of course, after that day Ginny and Luna became the best of friends. 

They spent time in their room together without it ever feeling forced. They visited muggle modern art galleries, and Luna wondered at the oddities of the non-magical mind. They woke at dawn to visit the woods and commune with nature. Ginny thought she could have communed perfectly well with nature after a long lay-in, but she didn’t feel the need to tell Luna that. The animals still caused the occasional squabble between the pair of them, but Ginny kept a smile on her face whenever she moaned

And truthfully, everything between the pair of them was pretty wonderful. 

Well, things _would_ have been wonderful if Ginny could only have been a little stricter with herself. After rapidly deciding not to dislike Luna any more and then, accidentally-on-purpose becoming best friends, Ginny found her feelings had quickly escalated. 

Instead of gazing at Luna from afar, she’d gotten herself a front row seat, and she liked what she saw. Her tiny crush had pretty much grown into a full-blown pash, and Luna seemed to have taken up permanent residence within the confines of Ginny’s consciousness. 

And to be honest, whenever the other girl was around- and that was rather a lot now- Ginny could hardly stay upright. As for thinking even the slightest bit _straight_ , any chance of that disappeared with just the scent of Luna’s honeysuckle perfume. Most of Luna’s habits seemed pretty endearing now, and Ginny even thought she could put up with those bloody animals, if that only meant living with Luna permanently. Ginny went home to the Burrow for a fortnight over Christmas, and the two of them owled nearly everyday. 

George stuck his nose in, of course, wanting to know exactly who that _very special lady_ was that had her grinning wider than ever before in her life. 

And Ginny just told him to piss off. But for some strange reason that silly daft smile simply would not shift. 

~@~

It was all pretty marvellous but, like everything good in Ginny’s life, it had to come to a sticky end. 

The night that everything came crashing down involved rather a lot of Firewhiskey and even more Flitweed. It wasn’t so much what Ginny herself had consumed, but more the atmosphere in the house where the party was being held. 

Ginny hadn’t felt quite in her right mind since their arrival, and the shouting voices, flashing spells and pounding muggle music started to affect her good judgement. She felt tense, short tempered and angry and knew, in the back of her mind, that she wasn’t really practising good self care. The problem came when she spied Luna out of the corner of her eye. Her new best-friend wasn’t hard to miss on the dance floor, not when her moves were quite so unique. 

Luna was dancing with some girl that Ginny had never seen before, a petite, dark haired beauty. 

Ginny’s stomach lurched and her legs felt like they’d been hit with a Jelly-Legs Hex. The very last thing Ginny wanted was to be _that_ girl, the jealous green-eyed one, so she started to make for the door. _It was far too hot in the room_ , Ginny decided, hoping the night-time air would clear her head. 

Flitweed always made her feel edgy; made her feel like her skin was just a few sizes too tight. It took her a good few minutes to work her way though the crowds of people and it was only as she finally got to the door that Ginny made her biggest mistake of the evening so far. As she turned round, she witnessed a sight that made her breath catch: Luna whispering into ear of that dark-haired witch. 

Ginny thought irrationally about going home, about flooing to the Burrow. Maybe she could collar Ron, get him to _Obliviate_ the whole bloody year from her memory. As Ginny watched, Luna straightened herself up, and started to move alone through the crowd. Her blue eyes met with Ginny’s own and the partygoers, so reluctant and disinclined to move before, simply parted way to let Luna through. 

And Ginny was frozen, _Expoximised_ into place by the simple force of that gentle girl’s wide gaze. 

It must have been four, five seconds before Ginny could bring herself to move once more, before she could tear herself away from Luna and flee though the open door. The cool of the night hit her like an enchantment. Outside, Ginny thought that she must, somehow have forgotten how to breathe because the rush of air into her lungs was almost painful. She pulled in great lungful's of the stuff, her chest gasping and rattling and her eyes red with unspent tears. 

_Merlin_ , Ginny thought, scenarios running through her head at a million miles an hour, _this was an evening that couldn’t possibly get worse_. 

But then, of course, it did. 

“Ginny,” said Luna beside her, her voice melodic and quiet as birdsong, “I saw you from across the dance-floor. You looked as pale as a ghost. You frightened me.”

Ginny twisted her wand though her fingers, trying to buy herself a little time. “Sorry. I don’t find busy, crowded places very comfortable. I tend to get a bit panicky. I ought to have learn my lesson by now, but somehow I never do.”

“If you want to go home Gins,” Luna smiled, “then just say the word. We can apparate back. Read a book or meditate. Whatever you want.”

Ginny’s heart raced at Luna’s kind words. “I’m okay, Lulu. You don’t have to look after me. You looked like you were having a good time with the girl inside… She was really pretty. I can clear off tonight, find somewhere else to stay if you like.”

“ _Edie_?” Luna’s eyes bugged open at the idea, her face breaking into a broad grin. “Edie is on my course. I’m not sure her boyfriend would be too impressed with the idea of sharing her. Edie is lovely- an aura of _pure gold_ \- but she isn’t you, Gin. I’d rather be with you than anybody.” Well, that comment certainly captured Ginny’s attention. Perhaps she had misheard, or misconstrued Luna’s meaning. After all, the blond-haired one was notorious for her kindness and complimentary nature. 

The Flitweed and the small amount of Firewhiskey must have been far stronger than Ginny had imagined because she found herself moving imperceptibly closer to the other girl, her eyes taking in every inch of Luna’s soft pink lips, dewy skin and open shining face.

And Luna moved, almost imperceptibly, closer to her. 

And maybe, _maybe_ this wasn’t the first time that Ginny had imagined this. Maybe this was the moment that has been scratching away at the edges of her consciousness the whole evening. 

And maybe this was the moment Ginny had dreamed of since they shared those first glasses of whiskey, or maybe even since they first shared a room. All Ginny knew was that this felt _right_. It felt real, and true and honest. 

And it was as if everyday, every minute since their first meeting had led only to that very second. Ginny met Luna’s eyes which shone dark and wide in the evening twilight. 

And Ginny knew that this was real. So she leant forward and she kissed her. 

~@~

 _And Luna kissed Ginny in return_. 

Luna kissed Ginny in return. Their kiss was warm, and unreal and utter perfection and it was everything that Ginny had never known she wanted. Ginny thought that perhaps somebody had slipped her a love potion because her heart was racing, and she couldn’t be quite sure that she wasn’t levitating off the floor. 

Luna tasted like Lemon Meringue tarts and Ginny could feel the edges of the other girls grin wide beneath her own. It was finally real, and finally happening, and this, _this_ Ginny thought, this was what a kiss felt like when you truly adored another person. They pulled apart, finally and Luna looked radiant: beaming and beautiful. She had a beatific smile on her face, and Ginny was quite sure that her face was a perfect mirror image. 

For a second Luna seemed as happy as a niffler in a Gringotts vault when suddenly the whole world started to crash down around Ginny’s feet. “Oh Salazar,” Luna murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I… Oh, Ginny, I... Merlin.” 

Her body language was agitated, and her eyes darted around in a frantic haze. All Ginny could do was watch, aghast, stuck to the spot like she’d been cursed. Luna seemed to want to say something else, her mouth working urgently, but in the end she practically fled, running away into the dark. 

Ginny, it seemed was a just a mistake for Luna. A stupid, idiotic drunken mistake for Luna, who could have Edie, or Clementine or anybody else she wanted. 

And without even packing her clothes, Ginny apparated back home to the Burrow. 

~@~

Ginny hid at her home for three days. 

Her mum was wonderful, and didn’t pressure her for answers about what exactly had gone wrong. In fact, she didn’t ever force her to leave her bed. Ginny cried silent tears into her pillow when she knew she was alone, cursing her naivety and her stupidity. 

How could she have been this foolish, ruining her friendship with her stupid _feelings_? 

But Ginny knew she couldn’t do her degree from home. She couldn’t upend her life and run away forever. All of her books, all of her clothes, her broom and her cauldron were back at College and that was where her life was waiting. Ginny only had one option, and that was to return to school. She decided to return late at night when she hoped dearly that Luna would be in bed. 

But of course she wasn’t. 

“We have to talk,” Luna said. She was sat on her bed, quietly reading when Ginny returned. It broke Ginny’s heart into a hundred little pieces to see how beautiful Luna looked and how ethereal. She was wrapped up in her dressing gown, with her hair a messy knot on her head. 

“I’ve hated the last three days. Hated not having you here to come back to, to laugh with,” Luna explained. “Could we just try to be friends again? I can’t go back to how it was before.”

And Merlin, if that reply wasn’t enough to make Ginny’s anxiety spike through the bloody roof. 

“I don’t know, L! I don’t know if I can go back to just being _friends_. I mean, we lived together at the start of the term without being friends!” Ginny was really focussing on keeping her voice unwavering and trying harder than ever before in her life not to betray her upset. 

She got it, really she did. Luna had made a mistake, a dire, drunken mistake and she wanted to wheel it back. Wanted to make like it had never happened. Go back in time to when they had both gotten along without those pesky emotions ruining everything. But Ginny didn’t feel like that. She couldn’t let go of her feelings, couldn’t let go of just how _right_ that kiss had felt. “Maybe just living alongside each other is for the best. Broomsticks that pass in the night. You’ve got plenty of friends, Luna and so have I-”

“Salazar’s sake, Gin!” Luna seemed to absolutely hate Ginny’s perspective. Luna’s cheeks were flushed red and her blue eyes flashed in anger. “Why don’t you try being the so-called adult you pretend to be? You’re acting like a child just because I kissed you. Just because I _like_ you… And yes, I knew I’d taken advantage the moment it happened… You said you found parties difficult. Loud and stressful. But I kissed you anyway. I’m so sorry.”

At Luna’s words, Ginny thought her heart must have stopped. Everything in her world seems to have ceased, and the only things she can hear is the coursing of blood though her brain and the thrum of her heart. “L, I kissed you. I wanted to… And I’m glad that I did.” Ginny took a deep breath, and considered her next words carefully. “I like you. Want you. I’ve… I’ve never felt like this about anyone before.”

“But you left, Ginny! Disappeared for three days. Not an owl, or a message.” Luna’s voice was shaky and unsure. She looked towards Ginny with uncertainty. “I thought you were angry. I kissed you when you were vulnerable.”

“I wasn’t angry when I ran away. I was _embarrassed_. What was I supposed to think when you ran away like you did?”

“I only ran off because I thought… I thought I’d…” But Luna didn’t seem able to finish her sentence, not when Ginny was striding over to her bed. 

_Luna liked her_. Ginny simply couldn’t resist that splendid girl, and within a minute she was pulling Luna to her feet and pressing the softest of kisses against her lips. 

And then Luna deepened the kiss, pulling Ginny more deeply into heaven than she’d ever been before. Ginny was completely gone. If she’d been _Confunded_ Ginny didn’t think she would have been more enthralled than she was right at that very second in time. She didn’t need a past, and she didn’t need a future. All she needed was Luna, her wondrous girl, in her arms forever. 

Somewhere in the periphery of her vision Ginny could feel the eyes of Knotty and Anansi staring at her, but even Luna’s dreadful, brilliant pets weren't enough to put her off. This was love, pure and simple and a life with Luna, and all her oddities, was all Ginny wanted forever. 

“This is perfection,” Ginny said happily. “I feel like we’re a perfect fit. I just can’t believe it took us all this time to realise it.”

“The past doesn’t matter,” Luna said, laughing lightly. “We’ve got all the time in the world.”

And that, Ginny thought, was quite the wisest thing she had ever heard. 

~@~

 _Room-mates. Best-friends. Lovers. Soul-mates_. That was what Ginny and Luna were to each other. 

And they both knew, without a doubt, that was how it would be forever.

**Author's Note:**

> She ain't got no money  
> Her clothes are kinda funny  
> Her hair is kinda wild and free  
> Oh, but Love grows where my Rosemary goes  
> And nobody knows like me
> 
> She talks kinda lazy  
> And people say she she's crazy  
> And her life's a mystery  
> Oh, but Love grows where my Rosemary goes  
> And nobody knows like me  
>  _Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)_ by Edison Lighthouse. 
> 
> Thank you for reading xxx


End file.
